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Chemical composition and cytotoxic activity of the leaf essential oil of Eugenia zuchowskiae from Monteverde, Costa Rica

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Abstract

The leaf essential oil of Eugenia zuchowskiae from Monteverde, Costa Rica, has been obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC–MS. The principal constituents of E. zuchowskiae leaf oil were α-pinene (28.3%), β-caryophyllene (13.2%), α-humulene (13.1%), and α-copaene (8.1%). The leaf essential oil of E. zuchowskiae showed pronounced in-vitro cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, MDA-MB-468, and UACC-257 human tumor cell lines. The major components showed cytotoxic activities comparable to doxorubicin (LC50 14–70 μg/ml).

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Acknowledgements

Support for this work was provided in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R15 CA101874-01). We are very grateful to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the Tropical Science Center for permission to collect plant materials. We thank an anonymous private donor for the generous gift of the GC–MS instrumentation.

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Correspondence to William N. Setzer.

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Cole, R.A., Bansal, A., Moriarity, D.M. et al. Chemical composition and cytotoxic activity of the leaf essential oil of Eugenia zuchowskiae from Monteverde, Costa Rica. J Nat Med 61, 414–417 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-007-0155-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-007-0155-6

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